One of the RRIII’s Captains boards as a passenger, bags cow bluefin along with his dad
BY MIKE STEVENS
SAN DIEGO – The Red Rooster III has been putting on a clinic on the long-range stage, and one of her Captains decided to stay on board as a passenger to fish a 15-day Sonny Jones/Pelagic-sponsored trip his father was part of. Captain Dylan Malmberg of the Red Rooster III said it’s the only time his dad fishes with them, so he took the opportunity to share the rail, and it paid off.
“I hooked the fish on a deep sonar school just before sunrise and almost got spooled,” said Malmberg. “I managed to stop it with the 65-pound Izorline, solid-marked Spectra singing in the breeze from the pressure. It took six trips around the boat and a lot of playing different angles on the lighter tackle to land the fish. It was a lot bigger than I expected, and I can’t believe how well the Izorline solid-marked Spectra held up on a fish that big. The average fish was around 100 pounds that morning, and I used appropriate tackle for that, but it held up beautifully with a little luck on that cow bluefin. The cool part was having my dad there to see the whole thing, and he even caught a 238-pound bluefin on the kite a short while later which I was able to be there to help gaff.”
Captain Malmberg’s tuna tipped the scale at 252 pounds, and he tamed it with an Accurate Valiant 600N spooled with that Izorline braid and matched with a Calstar prototype jigging rod, 80-pound Seaguar Premier Fluorocarbon leader and a Daiwa FK 201g jig on the business end.
Underwood (third and second Captains of the Red Rooster III) show off Malmberg’s 252-
pound bluefin tuna. He was fishing as a passenger with his dad (see photo above) who was
also on this 15-day trip charter aboard the RRIII.
